National Pension Service Grows Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 586,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,827 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.10% of Nasdaq worth $52,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.7% in the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.5% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 4,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 21,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NDAQ. UBS Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.67.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $87.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.49. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $97.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $49.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.06. Nasdaq had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 38.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total transaction of $179,767.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,779.60. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.